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OLD LAMPS AND NEW 
AND OTHER VERSE 



By }he same author 

TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY 
SONGS OF FLYING HOURS 



AND OTHER VERSE 

ALSO 

BY GAZA'S GATE 

A CANTATA 



BY 

EDWARD WILLARD WATSON, M.D. 



PHILADELPHIA 
H. W. FISHER & CO. 



Copyright, igoj 
By Edward Willard Watson 



JUL 27 lyu.^ 






T/^e Uni'veruty Press, Cambridge, U. S. A. 



^ 

^ 



^ NOTE 



" My Withered Rose," reprinted through the 
courtesy of Messrs. Harper & Brothers. 



To my Wife 



Table of Contents 



OLD LAMPS AND NEW 

AND OTHER VERSE 

Page 

Old Lamps and New 13 

For Your Sake and My Sake 15 

Love and the Preacher i6 

The Shadow of Love 17 

My Withered Rose 18 

September's Garden 19 

At Evening 21 

At Last 22 

Perfect Love 23 

To My Autumn Flower 24 

Good Night 26 

Mother Love 27 

Love's Despair 28 

Without Thee 31 

By the Roadside 32 

Love that Endureth 33 

Forget, Sweet Rose 34 

ix 



Table of Contents 

Pagb 

Life's Crossways — The Man 36 

Life's Crossways — The Woman 37 

To Mary by the Sea 38 

Love Comes too Late 41 

Lost Love 42 

Age 43 

A Name to Live 44 

Personality 45 

Music 46 

Autumn Leaves 47 

Autumn 48 

The Preacher 49 

St. Martin's Summer 50 

"For Whom There Is No Daybreak" — Isaiah. . 51 

Rose Madder 53 

A FORGOTTEN IDYL 

The Hiding-Place 57 

The Story 58 

The Day-Dreamer 59 

Sleep and Death 60 

The Gate of Mystery 61 

The Land of Death 62 

Repentance 63 

The Pearl of Great Price 64 

The Messenger 65 

X 



Table of Contents 

Page 

Surrender 66 

In the Night 67 

Thy Window 68 

The Victory 69 

The Worshiper 70 

Telepathy 71 

The Answer 72 

Sympathy 73 

Silence 74 

My White Angel 75 

Discovery 76 

Anguish 77 

A Prayer 78 

Dreams 79 

Farewell 80 

Sacrifice 81 

Parting 82 

The Dream of Death 83 

So Love is Told 84 

Resolve 85 

Farewell, Farewell 86 

The Dearest Things 87 

Anguish 88 

Apart 89 

Renunciation 90 

The Pyre of Hope 91 

xi 



Table of Contents 

Page 

The Last Messenger 92 

Love or Hate 93 

Despair 94 

Joy and Woe 95 

Remembrance .' 96 

Hidden Treasure 97 

The Lost Letter 98 

The Faith of Love 99 

Finis .101 



BY GAZA'S GATE. A Cantata 103 



Xll 



OLD LAMPS AND NEW 
AND OTHER VERSE 



Old Lamps and New 



Merchant of Araby, through the crooked lanes, 

Under the steel-bkie shadows 

Of the minarets, lying 

Clear-cut and cool 

'Cross palpitating veins 

Of burning air, 

The hot, bright glare defying. 

Ever you go your way ; in dulcet strains, 

From dawn till dark, 

Crying, still louder crying: 

" But one of all my lamps. 

My wonderful lamps, remains; 

Who '11 change old lamps for new ? " 

None, none replying. 



13 



II 

Crafty Old Merchant, cease your plaint and go ; 

We care not for your lamps, 

You cry to ears unheeding. 

The night comes fast, 

Deeper the shadows grow. 

And in the darkening lanes 

Wise men are homeward speeding. 

Hark ! from the distant tower 

There soundeth low 

The Muezzin's cry, 

" Allah il Allah " pleading. 

And, see, afar a tiny light doth glow, — 

The twinkling lamp of love 

Our footsteps leading. 



14 



For Your Sake and My Sake 

For your sake, aye, for your sake, 
I '11 take the burden and go with you ; 
The lash of the world on back and thew, 
The tongues that sting with the word untrue, - 
For your sake, aye, for your sake. 

For your sake, aye, for your sake, 
For a smile from you, a touch of your hand, 
Along the ways of a weary land, 
With never a friend at our side to stand, — 
For your sake, aye, for your sake. 

For my sake, aye, for my sake. 
You '11 come with me — nor ever repent ; 
You '11 come with me like a day-star sent 
To guide my feet, ere my strength be spent, — 
For my sake, aye, for my sake. 



15 



Love and the Preacher 

" Then," said the Preacher, " there shall be 
Only the land, nor any sundering sea." 
And in my heart I cry, '' O may I stand 
Safe on that blessed land — with thee — with 
thee." 

" No weeping shall be there," the Preacher said, 
" No tears." Will then dear Love itself be dead? 
For Love hath ever looked through tears on me. 
And, thro' the deep of tears, my soul hath led. 

" No night shall be, nor any need of sun." 
Wilt thou take all of love ? Yea, one by one — 
No seas to part — no tears — no long, sad night — 
Will aught be left for Love when life is done? 



16 



The Shadow of Love 

Love standeth at the door, 
By the pillars white thereof, 
Where roses, to the roof, 
Climb and swing softly o'er. 

But a shadow dark is cast. 
Till it seemeth a living thing, 
That close unto Love doth cling. 
And ever holdeth him fast, 

" Who cometh, O Love, with thee ? 
Who waiteth with thee without? 
Sad is my heart with doubt — 
O Love, give answer to me ! " 

Heart, till thy dying breath. 
Together with thee we move: 
Love, and the Shadow of Love, 
And the Shadow of Love is Death. 



17 



My Withered Rose 

The garden is all filled with roses fair, 

And thro' the shaded lanes 

Rose-scented air comes blowing ; 

Yet in my hand I hold and closer fold 

My withered rose, my faded rose, 

Its leaves no longer glowing ; 

I clasp it all the closer, in despair, 

For once she wore it in her tawny hair — 

My Rose, my only Rose, of a myriad roses 

growing ; 
My Rose, sweet evermore, beyond the power of 

knowing. 



i8 



September's Garden 

This is Her garden. The high noon is over, 
The soft amber sunHght pours down on the wall ; 
Without it I stand, like a lingering lover, 
And low thro' the hedgerow I hear her call. 

This is Her garden — my love's own garden, 
Where flowers of the Autumn are blossoming 

still ; 
Where no man may enter and hope for pardon 
Unless he enter by her sweet will. 

Lilies, Tulips, and rare Spring-Roses, 
Violets nestled 'neath heart-shaped leaf, 
Glory's bloom that dawn uncloses. 
Withered all in a day too brief. 

But Peonies, red as her blood, bend low to her, 
Yellow Chrysanthemums fret and twine, 
Golden Asters lend loving glow to her, 
Gilt with the ray of the red sunshine. 

Why should I enter — the night soon is falling — 
Why wait without till the darkness be come? 
Could I but answer her heart to me calling. 
Would she stray on in the silence and gloom? 



19 



What tho' Summer be lost and be ended, 
What tho' the sun lieth low in the west — 
Love is the Sunrise of souls that are blended 
One with another — and love is rest. 

Days will be moments and life but a vision; 
Custom, a web that we '11 break in delight ; 
Even the prim world we '11 hold in derision ; 
Let us have love, and then — let come the night. 

What will it matter when time has flown faster. 
The world grown greater and wiser and worse, 
What will we reck then of death and disaster. 
Loving and hating, and blessing and curse? 

For in the heart of the Universe, beating 
Ever by day and yet ever by night. 
Still there may linger the joy of our meeting. 
The sweet low laughter of love's delight. 

Now may I enter, O Queen of September; 
Thy rivals of April are faded and dead. 
The loves of the morning no longer remember, 
But the glad love born in the sunset red. 



20 



At Evening 



The long gray shadows creep and closer fall, 
The cool night winds across the meadows call ; 
High in the pallid sky the wan, white moon 
Swims slowly in the silence over all — 
Ah, Love, you weep that night must come so soon. 

The sweetness of thy love steals over me; 
Life never gave me love till I loved thee. 
Now, at the eve ; I missed thee all the noon ; 
So short they seem, the hours that yet may be — 
Ah, Love, you weep that night must come so soon. 

My arms are close around thee, and they press 
Unto my heart thy perfect loveliness ; 
Shall I scorn Fortune's dear belated boon ? 
Because the hours are few is joy the less? — 
Yet still you weep that death must come so soon. 



21 



At Last 

Now, after many days, O Love, 

I find thee, at the ending of the world. 

Thro' all the earth's bewildering ways 

I sought thee ; now, empearled 

With the last brightness of the west. 

Into whose golden heart the sun 

Doth ever wearily run, 

I find thee — ever sweetest, last, and best. 

Bare thy bright head, O Love, once more 

Beneath his golden rays. 

Gaze on the sky where seas and shore 

Lie wrapped in fiery blaze. 

There we shall dwell, some day, I ken. 

Who here have missed the day. 

Gaining love's guerdon only then, 

When earth is far away. 



Perfect Love 

We would be as the angels — never in marriage 
given; 

Perfect halves of a spirit, binding our souls in 
one; 

Tied with a tie that never by the hand of man 
could be riven, 

Living each for the other in the light of the per- 
fect sun. 

This is the heaven of love — the birthright of sin- 
wronged earth, 

Wrung from the soil of the sad, set in the gold of 
the sky; 

This which we ever long for, or forget in some 
moment of mirth — 

The hope of the loves that live, the glory of loves 
that die. 



23 



To My Autumn Flower 

How dear to me thou hast grown, 

My late flower, my last flower. 

No one but I have known, 

In this last, this sweetest hour. 

Spring sped fast, and the summer-tide 

Fled past on the swallow's wing, 

But thy lingering love will the last abide, 

As the lingering roses cling. 

Sweetest thy perfume of all flowers. 

My late flower, my last flower ; 

None were so sweet of the fall-flowers, 

Daring the winter's power. 

But thou must perish, alas ! 

Thy leaflets in sorrow will call, 

Till the ground grown cold and my heart so old 

Shall see the last one fall. 

Dread winter thy beauty would mar, 

My late flower, my last flower. 

Lo, he Cometh from far. 

And the storm-clouds over thee lower. 

Tho' we shed our tears for the little ones lost. 

The buds that no summer knew, 

Shall I weep for thee, my regal rose, 

That wast gemmed for one hour with the dew ? 



24 



Nay, rather with hands that tremble oft, 

My late flower, my last flower, 

I '11 dare the touch of thy petals soft, 

I '11 enter thy guarded bower. 

Safely I '11 bear thee, sweet, away. 

And thy faded leaves I '11 hide 

Close to my heart on that gladdest day 

When my soul to thy soul shall glide. 

Dearest of all thou hast grown, 

My late flower, my last flower ; 

No one but I have known, 

In this last, this sweetest hour. 

Spring sped fast, and the summer-tide 

Fled past on the swallow's wing. 

But thy lingering love will the last abide, 

As thy lingering petals cling. 



25 



Good Night 



Come, love of mine, and rest thy head 
Upon my breast once more ; 
For all the drowsy world is dead, 
And we, by Love and Silence led. 
Draw near Sleep's waiting shore. 

Fear not, I '11 ever love thee so. 
Thy heart will ever throb with mine, 
The happy days will onward flow. 
And closer still our lives will grow, 
Merged in a love divine. 

Nor will death part — we both will go 
Out to the world beyond in sleep. 
Let the sad earth beat to and fro, 
And stars above fade out and glow, 
So we our love may keep. 

Come, love of mine, and lay thy head 
Upon my breast f orevermore ; 
For all the drowsy world is dead, 
And, we by Love thro' Slumber led. 
Shall reach Death's silent shore. 



26 



Mother Love 

O gentle Mother whom I made my bride, 

On whose soft breast thine infant sleeping lies, 

Lift from its tiny face thy violet eyes 

To one who finds in thee his only pride. 

Make me thy little child. Let me abide 

In thy white arms while time all slowly flies, 

Till the dread day when love and longing dies, 

And in thy lap my pallid face I hide. 

Call me thy child ; so shall I ever be 
Nearer and nearer to this heart of thee ; 
For thy love is the " mother-love," and I, 
Unless I be thy child, loveless must die. 
So dream that on thy lap I sleeping lie, 
Lulled by the music of thy lullaby. 



27 



Love's Despair 



Lord of the realm of the living, and Lord of the 

dead who sleep, 
Ever brooding alone, in thy radiant heaven afar, 
Now henceforth, I pray thee, the soul of my loved 

one keep 
Safe in the clasp of thy hand, as thou keepest 

some shining star. 
Thou hast a million worlds teeming with life and 

light, 
I but a tiny orb of a soul — that is all I own ; 
Thine is the power that holdeth the circling 

spheres of the night, — 
Give unto me the soul that was made for my soul 

alone. 

Thou whom our Hps call Love, thou who art per- 
fect and pure, 

Look in my heart and tell me, is thy love greater 
than mine? 

Atom of life am I, but a moment of time to 
endure ; 

Spark cast out in the night from a blow of thy 
forge divine. 

Yet have I passion and pain : thy passion, thy 
pain, for I 

Am but a mirror of thee whose word made me 
and my race. 



28 



Give me a moment of love ere the coming of 

night, ere I die ; 
Find in the maze of thy world for my heart an 

abiding-place. 

Thou alone knowest, O God, how my life was a 
verdureless field. 

While over the barren sands I sought from morn- 
ing till night. 

Hoping 'gainst hope, evermore, that the desert a 
flower might yield, 

Or a pale pure blossom of love drop down from 
thy garden of light. 

Now, when my eyes are blinded, scorched by the 
glare of the waste, 

Dimmed by the days when I wept, by the nights 
when I gazed in despair 

Up thro' thine infinite sky, to thy throne, pray- 
ing death to haste — 

Now, hast thou shown to my soul one blossorn 
perfect and fair? 

Sayest thou now to my soul, " Son, I have watched 

thee long. 
Seeing thy sorrow and pain, yet gave thee no 

blossom to hold : 
Now, when thine ears grow deaf, I send thee a 

spirit of song ; 
Now, when thy hand is dead, I drop thee a flower 

of ffold." 



29 



All things to him who hath, desolation to him who 

hath not; 
Garlands to crown the head that lieth cold in the 

tomb, 
Flame and the breath of flame for the soul that 

the flame makes hot, 
And never the light of love till life is lost in the 

gloom. 

For now thou hold'st afar the soul I have sought 

so long. 
Far in the silvery drift of thy stars I can see it 

shine, 
Caught, and swept from my arms, ever on, in 

a hurrying throng. 
Loving me as I love, but nevermore to be mine. 
Dost wonder I pray for death? Hast thou made 

my life so sweet 
That I longer would linger here, to be mocked 

by thee ever again? 
Nay, let me lay my life, O God, at thy pitiless 

feet. 
And go into darkness and death, where the love- 
less lose their pain. 



30 



Without Thee 

How could I live without thee? All my days 
Would pass in silence; now, thy willing ear 
Is ever open. When my heart is glad 
I tell thee, and when tears would flow I see 
The answering drops shine on thy golden lash. 
Thy voice doth tremble when some sorrowful tale 
Stirs my heart. All the day together we, 
Ever agreeing, discordant never, happily pass. 
Nor is night dark, — our lives are lit by love ; 
But without thee, beauty from earth would perish. 
The sunlight fall but dimly thro' a cloud 
On the green fields ; the flowers would color lose, 
And the blue sky be ashen, and the trees 
Bend heavily in the sullen wind, or stand 
All motionless, having lost with thee their life 
Of moving leaflets, with bright sunshine caught 
Above their shadows, which we loved to see. 
And the swift river, where we lingered oft, 
That rippled noisily o'er its pebbled bed. 
Would wearily go, singing a mournful dirge ; 
And at the evening all the stars we 've watched. 
And loved their twinkling and their kindly light, 
Rosy red Mars, and Venus white and wan, 
And the moon that shines on lovers, — all would 

change, 
And be but mute and tearful eyes of Heaven 
Looking down on me, while my heart would 

break. 



31 



By the Roadside 

The Rose bent over the pathway white, 
And it brushed in the face of the passer-by ; 
O red, red Rose, that lonely grows 
Betwixt the road and the summer sky! 

And the Rose cried softly, " I bloom alone," 
And the traveller heard as he passed it by ; 
" O red, red Rose, that lonely grows. 
Your sweetness I fain would try." 

And the traveller reached for the red, red Rose, 
And gazed in its heart with careless eye ; 
And the red, red Rose it only knows 
Why he cast it down in the dust to lie. 

red, red Rose, I longed for thee ; 

1 never plucked thee — I dared not try ; 
But the red, red Rose but dearer grows 
As I see it fallen and left to die. 

I '11 raise the Rose from the dusty road, 

I '11 place it proud on my heart, and I 

Will cherish my Rose, tho' the wide world knows 

How I found it fallen and doomed to die. 



32 



Love that Endureth 

Will I wait for you? Wait till you bring to me 
Life's one draught when my soul is faint? 
Wait for you, watch for you, kneel till you cling 

to me, 
Free at last from the world's restraint? 
Ask the darkness to wait for the morning, 
Ask the blossoms to wait for the spring. 
Love that endureth smiles in its scorning 
On Love that droops on its weary wing. 



I 



33 



Forget, Sweet Rose 

Forget, sweet rose, the vanished flowers that shed 
Their petals o'er the barren ground last year; 
Forget the glowing beauty that is dead, 
And bloom for me, and grow each day more dear. 

Thou too, alas, must die. Thy bloom will fade ; 
Thy pink-tinged petals, too, will strew the ground. 
And I, thy lover, all too soon be laid 
Like thee — within the land where falls no sound. 

Nor any sighing of the soft south wind. 
Nor any rustling of the boughs that bend; 
Yet may love be to us forever kind. 
And let us live and love unto the end. 

The world will glow with other blossoms rare, 
The blood-red rose of life will call again, 
The lover with his outstretched hand be there 
To dare, as we, love's pleasure and love's pain. 



34 



But we will never weep because the night 
Is coming fast and one must wait alone, 
Because thy flower must die before my sight 
Or thou be left to fade when I am gone. 

Thy pearl-tipped petals may grow brown and sere, 
Time's touch may tarnish all thy heart of gold, 
But none will see — because grown still more 

dear — 
Within my heart thy withered flowers I fold. 

Never can death part more my rose and I. 
Sheltered within my soul thee safe I hold; 
Together will we live, together die, 
W[ /ve's sweet story to the end is told. 



35 



Life's Crossways 

THE MAN 

When all is bitterness — yea, life has come 
Unto its crossways, and we may not know 
Whither to turn, for everywhere is woe ; 
All lands seem foreign, and no spot is home — 
Then unto thee, O Earth, I, who did roam 
So far afield, come trembling; lay me low. 
And stretch my weary limbs in the sun's glow, 
Upon thy bosom, on thy soft, sweet loam. 

Life on a myriad buzzing wings sweeps by. 
And distant falls the hum of men and day; 
They cannot harm me where at rest I lie. 
As in thine ear my piteous plaint I say : 
" Fold me, O Mother, to thy boundless breast ; 
I am thy weary child, and long for rest." 



36 



Life's Crossways 

THE WOMAN 

Upon the damp, sweet grass my love would lie, 
Where bended apple boughs their shadows throw, 
And press her lips, red as the poppy's glow. 
On the dark mould in her mad ecstasy. 
" O Mother Earth," I hear her sob and cry, 
" Dearest of mothers, thou alone dost know 
My sorrows. 'T is to thee at last I go 
For comfort and surcease of misery. 

" Take me to thee ; unto thy breast I cling. 
Thou only dost abide — they all must pass. 
The mothers of the world are cold, alas, 
But unto thy warm heart my woes I bring. 
From thee I came ; now, when my sorrows sting, 
I lay my aching heart on thy green grass." 



37 



To Mary by the Sea 

I see you still as I left you there, 

On the long, gray sands by the silent sea ; 

There was blue in the wave, but a blue more fair 

Looked out from your eyes as they turned to me. 

My whole heart went to your heart with a cry. 

I cannot leave you, I cannot die ; 

And death is before me, and death 's despair. 

For life without you but death would be. 

The pale gray billows will ebb and surge, 

The soft sweet air blow in from the sea. 

The cool wind sweep o'er the meadow's verge, 

But never a balm will it waft to me. 

For, ever I close my eyes, and there 

I see you still as I left you there, 

I left you lone, and the plaintive dirge 

Of the moaning sea in my heart will be. 

Yet hope is left like a flower that bides 
Where never an eye may see its bloom ; 
A rare, soft flower, that the deep sea hides 
In its faery caves, in its holy gloom. 
Its colors fade when the storm sweeps by, 
It shuns the glance of the careless eye. 
But deep in the silence beneath the tides 
Its rainbow colors the dusk illume. 



38 



For now, be you near me or be you far, 
With a world between, — or upon my breast, - 
For you in the darkness there shines a star. 
For me in my toiling there still is rest. 
Kind fate holds close in its folded hand 
For you and for me — in the whole wide land - 
The choicest of treasures that ever are. 
The love that is purest and first and best. 

And now, if the night comes cold and lone. 
And closes dark o'er your heart and mine, 
We still are blessed, we love have known — 
The part of love which is most divine. 
No man may take it, no hand may lose, 
No lip can scorn, and no pride refuse ; 
You have all the days been my very own, 
And I, your lover, will not repine. 

I will not cry in the dead of night, 

I will not weary a god with tears. 

Let the Power above do the thing that 's right. 

Let the man below banish doubt and fears. 

Time cannot vanquish the heart that 's true. 

Time cannot sever my love from you, 

For love 'mid the mighty has still more might. 

And conquers time and the dying years. 



39 



Tho' never on earth we meet as one, 

Tho' never our lips press close with a sigh, 

Tho' anguish Hve till our lives be done. 

And joy and gladness shall pass us by, 

Still, living I love you, and dead I claim 

Your soul for my soul — by its long loved name. 

Death shall not find us at last undone 

When your soul clasps mine with a joyful cry. 

We were blown by the stormy weather, 
Floating weed in a restless sea, 
Down that flits over a field of heather 
Wherever the will of the wind may be. 
Tides that drift where we may not know. 
Winds of fate that against us blow. 
Grant but this, — that we drift together 
Side by side — my love with me ! 



40 



Love Comes too Late 

Love comes too late — too late ! 

,The shadows colder grow, 

The north winds keener blow: 

Love comes too late! 

O Love, why come so late? 

Summer is dying — dead. 

The rose-leaves drop, 

The heart-beats stop, 

The summer birds have fled. 

Love comes too late — too late ! 

Cold are the autumn days 

And chill the golden haze : 

Love comes too late ! 

O Love, why come so late? 

The roses in thy hair 

Droop — once so fair — 

In winter's air: 

Love comes too late — too late ! 



41 



Lost Love 

O lost Love in the dim hereafter — 
O Love, lost when the chance was mine ; 
Love, scorned then with a careless laughter, 
Love too tender, a flower too fine ; 
Scorned in the whirl of a heedless day, 
Dropped in the dust of a trodden way ; 

Love, lost Love — will I ever find you ? 
Love, lost Love, will you seek me out ? 
Will you hear me coming behind you. 
Will you turn again, will you doubt? 
Eyes that had only for me a caress, 
Will ye look back in f orgetf ulness ? 



42 



Age 



Must death end all ? I thought to live with thee 
Thro' the long years, to wander, hand in hand, 
With thee for sweet companion thro' the land 
Of living men, alway so happily. 
I did not dream of age, — 't was hid from me, — 
Thy locks grew white so softly, strand by strand, 
And what cared I to watch the ebbing sand 
In time's rude glass ? Thro' love's blind eyes I see 

Nothing but beauty. Time I may not mark 
But by thy heart-beats, beating 'gainst my heart, 
And thy low laugh as happy hours go by. 
And now we watch the evening, and we hark 
For the dread summons — must we ever part, 
Or shall we lovers be when dead we lie? 



43 



A Name to Live 

Make thou thy little mark and pass along. 
The cliflf that lines the way is fair and white ; 
Reach up, climb high, cut deep if thou art strong, 
And write thy name in letters clear and bright. 
But make some mark if thou wouldst live thro' 

time. 
Better an ill one than no mark at all, 
For here we see thro' all the centuries' grime 
Plato and Nero both upon the wall. 



44 



Personality 



Two faces side by side bend o'er the lake ; 

Two faces side by side smile back again; 

The west wind blows, the cloud drops down its 

rain, 
And rising waves the smiling pictures shake. 
Life is a picture that the waters take 
Of something out beyond them, that would fain 
Know what it is, yet ever longs in vain, 
For as it looks, Death's storms the mirror break. 

And what are they who ever look and long. 
Who strive to recollect a name forgot, 
As one recalls some half-remembered song 
That flashes thro' the soul and then is not ? 
Must they too perish as the ripples break 
Their image cast upon life's troubled lake? 



4S 



Music 

Thou hast a power that all the ringing word 
Of gold-tongued orator may never claim, 
Bringing from fathomless depths of souls up- 
stirred 
Hot tears of grief and shame. 

Or like some Orient essence sweet, distilled 
By blessed hand thro' endless happy years. 
From flower of lotus to the soul that 's filled 
With dread and formless fears. 

Up to thy sky we climb, O mighty cause 
That helps us, till the mad heart, leaping high 
In answer to thy voice, — thy melody's laws, — 
Would join thee, soaring heavenward, or would 
die. 

Thy besom sweeps away the webs of earth. 
Its dull monotony, its sordid care, 
And gives to souls that perish a new birth 
In lands of loveliness and regions fair. 

Till we are young once more in golden youth, 
And we are elders in a silvern age. 
While round us cluster all we love, and Truth 
Tears all our tear-stained history from its page. 



46 



Autumn Leaves 

Ye die in colors rich and rare 

As Burmese gems that mock the fire, 

And yellow as the golden glare 

That all men in their hearts desire. 

The saddened sun thro' dreamy haze 

Looks down in pity as ye lie, 

And gilds with soft yet dazzling blaze 

The earth on which ve fall and die. 



47 



Autumn 

I am left all desolate. 
Like the lingering flower that clings, 
The last faint note in the song-bird's throat 
Ere winter has chilled its wings. 

I am the last lone leaf on the tree, 
The rest, on the cold ground falling, 
The wind swept free from the wintry sea, 
And they burned in flame at his calling. 

I am the last bright drop of dew 
In autumn's sunlight dreaming; 
I die as the brightness pierces thro'. 
In misty radiance gleaming. 

The last faint ripple o'er the sea. 
The wash of the wave on shore, 
The last low sigh of storms that die, 
The cry that cometh no more. 

The last bright smile on the face that lies 
Dead in the night — it has lived its day; 
The last soft note of the songs that float. 
The last faint light in the evening gray. 



48 



The Preacher 

" Lay up in heaven," the preacher cried, 

" Your treasures 'gainst your coming to abide." 

Now I have nothing here to lay away, 

But live my life with poverty and pride. 

But I may lay away all the bright things 
That here I long for, but which all take wings ; 
The riches I have not, — the house, the lands, — 
And I will lay away the bird that sings. 

The cloud that shades the ever-burning sun, 
The rest that I will take when toil is done. 
The mountain peaks I 've ever longed to see, 
The rivers that adown the mountains run. 

The restless ocean and the cool soft wind, — 
These I could never leave at last behind ; 
I 've always longed for them thro' life, but still 
Have only had them safe within my mind. 

And I would lay away so tenderly 
The friend I wished one day to see, — 
The love that missed me all these lonely years, 
Waiting amid my treasures there for me. 



49 



St. Martin's Summer 

O Summer of St. Martin, when the leaves 
Have fallen from the trees and left them bare, 
And soft, sweet smoke floats on the balmy air, 
And for lost Summer all the woodland grieves, 
Now for a moment short Nature reprieves 
The gloomy heart of man, condemned by care, 
From dread of winter, with its promise fair. 
But only for an hour his soul deceives. 

How sad and sweet thou art, how like to life, 
When spring is fresh and summer strong and 

lithe. 
And autumn finds that friends like leaves must 

fall. 
While still we linger, tired of toil and strife, 
Regretting the lost days when life was blythe. 
And shuddering as the snowflakes softly call. 



SO 



«'For Whom There Is No 
Daybreak" — Laiah 

Lo! I am one who ever turns his eyes 
Upward in vain to seek the risen sun ; 
Finding but blackness, and in dread surprise 
Looks down for earth — but earth, Hke day, is 
done. 

I am anhungered, and my soul doth cry, 
" Give me of love and light a little span ; " 
Must men lose all things when they come to die, 
And are the senses all there is in man? 

Is longing only left him in the realm 
That he must enter ; must he hunger there, 
On unseen waves, — a mariner without helm, — 
Driven ever onward by his own despair? 

With God somewhere beyond him in the gloom, 
And earth below him, hid by death and night, — 
Earth with its sunny fields and flow^ery bloom, 
And ocean billows flashing in the light; 



SI 



And silence now, where songs of birds and men 
Rose round him, and the strains of music sweet ; 
All that made life so lovely to him then 
Now lost in endless distance at his feet, 

I, even I, am now as one long dead, 
Unto whose eyes the world is, and is not, 
Who longs in vain for life forever fled. 
Remembering earth and all its happy lot. 



$2 



Rose Madder 

I have a color in my box 

That I can never do without ; 

I use it on the rugged rocks 

And everywhere when I 'm in doubt. 

Does Hfe seem gloomy, and the way 

My feet must tread grow rougher still, 

Does darkness seem to end the day. 

And steep before me rise the hill, 

Then with my brush I spread a glow 

Of pale, pure rose over it all, 

And joyous on my way I go. 

Forgetting ills that might befall. 

Do clouds rise high and threaten storm, 

I tint the sky with pink, and then 

Beneath the spreading color warm 

J face the frowns of angry men ; 

And when across my way I see 

A chasm yawn, my steps to stay, 

I spread my color gleefully, 

And still pursue my way. 

O rosy pink, O pale, pure rose, 

O hope that veils in dewy mist 

The rugged steep, the storm that blows, 

Who cares when once your lips have kissed 

Life's canvas? You are hope and love, 

You give the glow God meant to be 

Reflected from His world above 

On us who walk so wearily. 



S3 



A Forgotten Idyl 



THE HIDING-PLACE 

'T was underneath the moss-grown gables old 
Of a lone manor by the Northern Sea; 
November's tvind without blew drearily, 
And, far below, the querulous ocean rolled. 
Yet, thro' the pane there fell a rift of gold, 
Raining its shining motes all dustily ■ ■ 

Upon a chest, carven of ebony. 
That hid within the darkness and the mould. 

What can it guard so long? Could mystery speak, 
Would chorus come from all the lost and gone, 
Or would they zvhisper softly, one by one? 
I'll lift the lid — shake off the dust and reek. 
And drag to light, out to the merciless sun. 
Whatever here with time plays " hide and seek." 



57 



THE STORY 

On stained vellum, wrapt in faint perfume, 
Part muskiness, and part the scent of time. 
These sonnets, from their very dusk and grime, 
Speak to my soul and buried woes exhume. 
The story 's old; life ever doth resume 
In nezver lives its arabesque — no clime 
But sings the tale, in oft-forgotten rhyme. 
That tells of love misspent, and sin, and doom; 

But here the singer chose a nobler theme 
Than love that yields and falls beside the way, 
Even that perfect love — the love Supreme — 
That casts for love's own sake its joy aivay. 
And goes into the Silence, where no gleam 
Of faint, sweet dazvn foretells the coming day. 



58 



THE DAY-DREAMER 

Dreamer of dreams was I. The busy day 
And turmoil of our life I lived among; 
Yet was I sad : no songs by me were sung, 
And gloom and sorrow seemed my lot alway; 
But still I dreamed, till life itself grew gray 
And seemed a dream — yet to the dream I clung, 
Hoping 'gainst hope, that, 'mid the visions flung 
Thro' Slumber's Ivory Gate in disarray. 

In all its perfect beauty might be found 
One radiant vision, that I longed to see — 
Love — sought in vain through all the varied 

round 
Of dreamy scenes and misty fantasy — 
And hear, 'mid Dreamland's faint, mysterious 

sound, 
One voice — my love's own voice — speak low to 

me. 



59 



SLEEP AND DEATH 

'T is Life we wake to with a sudden chill, 
But unto Sleep we drift on lulling tide ; 
And Sleep and Death may at the end abide, 
And our faint hearts with joy unmeasured fill. 
Then dread not Death, nor ever deem it ill, 
When to its open arms all creatures glide ; 
Sleep guards the gate, Death waits on the far 

side, 
And we must enter would we know its will. 

Life is the field we sow, that we may find 
Within the land of Death its ripened grain, 
Nor ever there look back and cry with pain, 
" I gathered once these jewels, faint and blind, 
This friend I followed far with weary feet. 
This love — ah, but that day was passing sweet." 



60 



THE GATE OF MYSTERY 

And there is given us ever, when we sleep, 
The deathless image of the death we dread. 
When on its pillow sinks the weary head, 
The soul doth thro' the gates of mystery creep, 
And while soft slumber doth our senses steep. 
Then, by a way we know not, we are led 
Into the land where all the garnered dead 
Forever, with the living, vigils keep. 

There night is day, and day and night are one, 
And years are as a day, and moments years ; 
Nor is there any deed we would undone. 
Nor bitter memories, nor barren tears. 
But all the life of earth — this race we run — 
Is but a dream with all its hopes and fears. 



6z 



THE LAND OF DEATH 

There never shall we ask, " Lovest thou me ? " 
There never shall we dread the hand of hate, 
Nor dream, living in dreams, how desolate 
Are lonely hearts in their mute agony. 
There will the prisoner evermore go free ; 
The outcast, bound in chains of love, tho' late, 
Will bless his clinging bonds and happy fate. 
And no more heart from heart shall severed be ; 

Nor poverty, nor loss, nor dread despair, 

Nor envious robber, stealing near the fold, 

Nor torrid sun, nor ever pitiless cold. 

But perfect skies above us blue and fair, 

And high, forever, on her throne of gold. 

Love, Queen of Life, shall fadeless garlands wear. 



62 



REPENTANCE 

Out from the Wilderness of Dreams there came 
Unto my soul a Prophet, gaunt and grey. 
" No longer waste your priceless hours, nor pray 
To gods unknown : hear the all-powerful name. 
The long ' lost Word ' is found. Love is the same 
As God ye know not. Rise, and cast away 
The idols ye have reared ; let in the day, 
And burn your scarlet sins in His white flame." 

" Change, then, my heart, O mighty Love," I cry, 
" Let me henceforth think newer, purer things, 
Heeding not if for love I fail and die. 
Or if for love I lose the Angel's wings, 
And dwell in Hades, while afar ofif sings 
In Paradise the perfect choir on high." 



(>i 



THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE 

Give me the thing I have not, and let go 
Into oblivion all the things I have; 
Let me lose all the gauds I cared to save, 
And all the little gifts that made me glow ; 
I cast them — riches, honors — down, to flow 
Far from me, and to float where every wave 
Shall overwhelm — drifted where waters lave 
Some other shore than mine. Do ye not know 

That for my one rare pearl my all I sell, 
And, once I have it, to my heart I hold 
Everything ? Love is all ! Let ring the knell 
Of wealth and honor, and the baubles told 
Off in their string like beads ! I cry, " All 's well ! 
Love is enough ! Let men keep power and gold ! " 



64 



THE MESSENGER 

Fly low, my dove, across the silent sea, 
And bear my love a message thro' the night. 
I watch with straining eyes thy distant flight. 
And would that I could only fly with thee. 
Fly fast, my dove; far off thy wings I see, 
Against the red-lit sky, a gleam of white. 
Haste on thy way, upon her bosom light. 
And bear to her the love that throbs in me. 

Under thy wing, and close against thy breast. 
Where beats thy heart in love's leal sympathy, 
There, till she takes it from thee, safe shall rest - 
Where none but she can find — my daring plea. 
Fly far, my dove, across the silent sea, 
Fly fast, my dove; my dear one waits for thee. 



6S 



SURRENDER 

I would give all, — Love I gave long ago, — 
Sweetness and light and earthly blessings all; 
I would have treasure from the heavens fall. 
And on her path thro' life bright flowers strow. 
Yet must I hide my love; she must not know 
That out beyond her heart's high garden-wall 
I, far away, ever Life's chained thrall 
Along the endless highways haggard go; 

Keeping within my breast one jewelled thought, 
One blossom plucked from out her garden-row. 
One pearl of beauty by my heart's blood bought, 
One field within my holding, white with snow, 
One beam of sunlight thro' the cloud-rift caught, 
One song of love in all my world of woe. 



66 



IN THE NIGHT 

I cannot shut thee out into the night ; 
For ever at my heart I hear thy hand 
Knock, and I open at thy soul's command, 
And ask not, know not, be it wrong or right. 
For love hath folded us in arms of might, 
And lost in love with thee entranced I stand, 
As one who sees a new-found, glorious land, 
And trembles, breathless, in its glowing light. 

O Love, thine eyes seem ever sad, yet still 
They search into my eyes for answer there. 
What would they? Is it love they fain would 

find? 
Thine is the image dear alone can fill 
My soul, my eyes, tho' veiled in wan despair, 
For, gazing thro' my tears, love still is blind. 



67 



THY WINDOW 

High is thy window set beneath the skies, 

The winter sun lights up its diamond pane; 

And as I gaze, it glints to me again 

The light of love that shines from out thine eyes. 

I never look in vain; my spirit cries, 

And thine gives back the answer: all in vain 

The cold world struggles in my soul to reign, 

" For thou art life and light," my heart replies. 

'T is but a glimpse, caught as I pass thy door, 

A glance that rests a moment and is not, 

A beam of sunlight on a dusky floor, 

A breath of Northland in the summer hot. 

Love's flash, Love's flame, where all was dark 

before, 
Lighting through all the day my hopeless lot. 



68 



THE VICTORY 

For love no man may bind ; nor law, nor age, 
Nor any precept chain its beating wings ; 
Like to the wave that ever fretful swings, 
And bursts its bounds in its white-foaming rage. 
Let us read life anew : turn the dark page. 
And sweep away the old and tiresome things, 
And harken to the music new that rings 
Around us ; let us rend life's iron cage. 

For all the world would chain us and confine. 
While yet our hearts cry out, " We will be free." 
There is no life but love — cling closer still ; 
Love that has won its way is Love divine. 
And we have fought the world — it wanted thee. 
But I have won thee, and my pulses thrill ! 



69 



THE WORSHIPER 

Ever toward thee I turn expectant face, 
As weary pilgrim toward his Orient fane; 
Gazing across world-spaces filled with pain, 
To my one haven — thy blest dwelling-place. 
And in the hours of night, when dreams enlace 
My soul and woo it to its home again, 
Ofttimes thine arms are round me, and in vain 
I clasp thine empty shade in sad embrace; 

And bending down to me in happy dreams, 

Upon my brow thy lips a moment press, 

As through the night thy pale-lit vision streams, 

And lingers, like a shadowy, lost caress ; 

My wandering light, that only flits and gleams, 

Alas, a moment in my wilderness. 



70 



TELEPATHY 

Can living love, o'erleaping time and space, 

Betwixt the soul of woman and of man 

Make distance vanish? Surely if it can 

I '11 test its power. O Love, grant me this grace, 

Come to me, let me see thy longed-for face, 

For all my soul is empty, and a ban 

Lies over earth's bright beauty. Rather than 

Live on without thee, let me lose my place 

And into silence drift, on wings of sleep. 

To him who ever waits alone, afar. 

Crying, " O Death, into thine arms I creep. 

For Love hath lured me, with its wandering star, 

Into a land where all the loveless are. 

And left me, lost and ruined, in its deep." 



7' 



THE ANSWER 

But thou hast come; flushed are thy cheeks with 

red, 
And soft thine eyes with joy's expectant tears. 
No longer need I count the hours as years. 
Love lives, and loneliness and doubt are dead. 
But tell me, didst thou hear, and wast thou led 
Unto my arms? Is it love thy frail boat steers 
To the unknown, past dim, mysterious spheres, 
Thro' which thy soul its maze to me must thread ? 

And I — is it because thy soul was sad 

That I in sadness passed the sunless day? 

And when thy heart is whole is my heart glad? 

Are we but children in some marvellous play? 

Ah, then — if only I might be a lad. 

And we, once more, live in the days of May! 



72 



SYMPATHY 

Does every throb of thy heart throb with mine? 
Does every tear in thine eye well in me? 
That I, night long, thy face o'erbrooding see, 
And every fear that thrills thee, swift, divine? 
What binds us each to each ; what marvellous line 
Invisible, more strong than chains can be. 
Making me feel thy joy and misery? 
Hath perfect love inwoven threads so fine 

Of stuff that souls are made of, stretching far 
Across the night and blending us in one ; 
Each pulsating to each, as distant star 
Bursts into bright Auroras, when its sun. 
In restless throes, through many a spot and scar, 
Lets its bright agony o'er heaven run? 



73 



SILENCE 

O silent lips ! O lips that fain would tell 

All that love knows, yet ever silent are, 

Forever are ye mine, tho' earth's sad star 

Into the blackness of the ages fell. 

Rest, weary head, upon my breast, and spell, 

With thy dear eyes, my thoughts that speech 

would mar : 
Love that is told may come to us from far, 
But silent love can speed from heaven to hell. 

Sought for so long — found at the end of day — 
Loved long ago, though unknown and unseen, 
Now will I keep thee in my heart alway. 
As though forever there thy place had been. 
For life is brief, but love can make its hour 
Worth all the lagging years that mock its power. 



74 



MY WHITE ANGEL 

I raise thee, my white angel, on a throne ; 
With mine own arms I lift thee far on high. 
And on the lowest step alway I lie 
Before thy beauty and thy sweetness prone. 
Weep not that thou must dwell there, all alone, 
Nor gazing down on me, so sadly sigh ; 
Month after month must blossom and must die, 
And love must linger till its flower be grown. 

Time waits for no man — we on time will wait — 
Lifting, from weary hearts, the appealing cry, 
" Hasten thy flight, O Time, nor long delay ; 
The night comes fast, why tarriest thou so late? 
Dost thou forget that mortal loves must die ? " 
But Time doth never heed the words we say. 



75 



DISCOVERY 

I loved thee in the moment when my eyes 
Met thine, turned to me in mute inquiry, 
Wherein I saw a soul that seemed to be 
Struggling to conquer fate; to agonize 
In its despair, like unto one who dies 
When life is brightest, or the things that flee 
Before the hunter, in fear's ecstasy. 
I asked thee nothing — needing no replies. 

Thy name I knew not, nor thy place and lot; 

I only loved thee. Now my life is thine, 

Do with it as thou wilt — no more I say ; 

Yet do I know, at last, that thou canst not, 

In the long years to come, ever be mine. 

Ah, God, that one short hour should end our day I 



76 



ANGUISH 

I cannot give thee up, I cannot go ; 
Thee to my heart for this last time I hold. 
I care not — let the bitter truth be told — 
We knew not, once, but now, alas, we know. 
Fate strikes thy soul thro' me a deadly blow: 
No longer mine to have, nor mine to hold, 
Love, like a rose, must die in sorrow's cold, 
Its blood-red blossom lost beneath the snow. 

Morning may come in gold, evening may glow, 
But love's fair flower may never grow again ; 
For thee, for me, remaineth only woe. 
Our world of love will be a world of pain. 
Apart we '11 live and count the hours slow, — 
We did not know, ah, God, we did not know I 



77 



A PRAYER 

Hemmed in on every side, in vain I beat 
Against my prison bars. Man cannot aid; 
Wouldst thou, O God, if to thy Might I prayed, 
Falling in self-surrender at thy feet? 
Not for release — not this do I entreat — 
But for foreknowledge. Shall I be betrayed 
By mine own heart, by mine own love dismayed, 
Or shall I enter love's own garden sweet ? 

For life is but a weary war with fate. 
And high upon the hills we strive to gain 
Lieth the prize of life — where love doth lie. 
It waiteth till the evening cometh late. 
It longeth for its lover, and would fain. 
It grieveth, looking down, to see him die. 



78 



DREAMS 

Ever in dreams I see thee. Thro' the night 
Upon my breast thy head doth lightly lie; 
I hear thee in thy slumber softly sigh, 
But wake to find thee vanished from my sight. 
Dost thou in truth come to me when the light 
Fades from thy violet eyes, and softly cry 
Unto my drowsy soul — doth it reply 
And fold thee in its arms in dear delight. 

While our twin souls, over the silent world. 
Laden with love and joy, unconscious fly? 
Some memory lives thro' all my waking hours, 
Intangible, in my soul's recesses curled. 
Dreamy and faint, a wondrous mystery, 
Wrapt in the fragrance faint of faded flowers. 



79 



FAREWELL 

How can I say " Farewell," and bear to leave 
Here, when I turn away, your love and care, 
And flit in freedom to the blythesome air 
Free as a bird? No heart is on my sleeve. 
But you and I, each far apart, will grieve, — 
I, when I think " She was so sweet and fair, 
She loves me, and I loving left her there ; " 
And you, because fate's net no man may cleave. 

O love, is it ill or well to leave you so? 
For now I cannot have you, cannot fold 
Your heart that thrills me, ever close to me; 
Go on your way, and I my way must go. 
The chill winds blow — I shiver in the cold ; 
Can fate be right, and I alone be free ? 



80 



SACRIFICE 

'T is mine to bear the sorrow for us twain, 

'T is I must conquer — I must set thee free. 

By thine own love I '11 strike love's chains from 

thee, 
And forge thee armor, proof, from out my pain. 
I '11 treat thee cruelly, light love I '11 feign, 
And slight thee, and then seem to heartless be ; 
I '11 look aside while I might look on thee. 
And let thee go afar, while I remain. 

I '11 wring thy heart, and rouse thee up to ire 
And maddening passion, till at last, in scorn. 
Thou lookest back upon thy fond desire 
As dreamers look on dreams when roused at 

morn, 
Safe in dissembling arms lifting thee higher, — 
By anguish thou art saved, my soul by fire ! 



8i 



PARTING 

How can I part, and yet how can I stay, 
For love grows sweeter as the moments fly, — 
The one great love for which men dare and die 
Came to me, to abide with me alway. 
Life flieth fast away, the threads of gray 
Will fleck thy hair, and age his hand on me 
Will roughly lay, but touch so tenderly 
Thee in thy loveliness, if e'er he may. 

Weep for the years that .died and left no trace 
That love's fond "calendar of love" can show. 
So few remain, — so pitiful they seem, — 
Death rules us out ere we begin the race ; 
Yet let us run into the sunset's glow. 
For dark beyond lieth death's loveless dream. 



82 



THE DREAM OF DEATH 

Yet in our dreaming, when life's sun is set, 
And all our world is lost within the dark, 
Then may we float closer with hearts that hark 
For the first whisper, till our souls have met ; 
And thro' the ages, and the ages yet 
To be, we '11 fly in joy, spark linked to spark, 
With souls rejoicing, like the soaring lark, 
That never may the faded fields regret. 

My soul shall build thee in the lucent air 

A palace wrought with gems and gleaming gold; 

Thy soul shall rest within, divinely fair, 

And we will watch the universe unfold ; 

And far below catch vision, faint and rare. 

Of a lost earth — loveless, and dark, and cold. 



83 



so LOVE IS TOLD 

Oh, tell me not " you love me," though you do, 
For what can love bring now but grief and woe? 
Apart we live, apart through life we go, 
So tell me not, e'en though the words be true. 
But I will tell you oft that I love you. 
What time the world of men doth sleepy grow; 
Whispering it where no man may hear or know, 
Barring my door, and e'en my shutter, too. 

You will not hear, unless my thoughts can flow 
Out through my walls and reach your listening 

ear; 
I '11 call you all the names that are most dear, 
Saying them soft and tearfully and low. 
But never dread, and never have a fear; 
I '11 say them in my heart when none is near. 



84 



RESOLVE 

Smile not in scorn, made bitter by distress, 
Cast not away the love my lips would frame, — 
'T were better to be loved in grief and shame 
Than spend the weary years in loneliness, — 
Nor frown upon me when my lips confess 
Their faltering love ; nor altogether blame 
If tears come to me when I speak thy name, 
And all the world save thee seems valueless. 

Thou wouldst not grant a love I dare not claim, 
Nor can we keep our souls still white and clear 
Unless toward the snowy height we aim, 
Where dwelleth love that scorneth guilt and fear; 
Where ever rises high the lambent flame 
Of longing hearts, by longing grown more dear. 



85 



FAREWELL, Fx\REWELL 

Farewell, farewell. Is it for years or days, 
Or will the word go echoing on until 
The voice that cries in agony is still, 
And life goes out upon death's unknown ways? 
Yet in my grief ever my eyes I '11 raise 
To something far beyond the good or ill 
Of this sad life, — beyond the deadly chill 
Of death, — and unto heaven give thanks and 
praise. 

For no man knows how hard a thing it is 
To see his love's sweet face to his draw near. 
Yet never press his lips to hers in bliss, 
Nor ever clasp the form that is so dear; 
Love that is robbed of its fruition sweet 
Is dearer than the love where lips may meet. 



THE DEAREST THINGS 

And no man knows how sweet a thing may be 
Till he may never reach with eager hand ; 
How blessed seems to sails that idle stand 
The breeze that never ripples o'er the sea ; 
Nor can man know how sweet love is but he 
Who lives an outcast, in a lonely land, 
Where love may never come at his command, 
Tho' he may pray and plead eternally. 

For all these dearest things we hide from day, 
Where none may see them — deep within our 

hearts ; 
The friends we sought that ever fled away, 
And the fond love that fate unpitying parts ; 
And in our treasure-house they wait and smile, 
And love sings softly, " Yet a little while." 



87 



ANGUISH 

I cannot kiss the lips that turn to me 
Trembhng with love, yet silent in despair. 
I cannot claim thee ; let my love beware 
Lest it add pain to all thy misery. 
And I will teach my eager arms to flee 
Love's amber, that would ever draw them there, 
Where throbs the heart that all alone must bear 
The burden of life's pitiless decree. 

How could I, thoughtless, heap up care on care 
Upon the head that is to me so dear ? 
How could I lay a heavier burden there, 
When all thy heart is pressed with deadly fear? 
I will not, nay, my hand must never dare. 
Even with love's caress, to touch thy silken hair. 



88 



APART 

Never in home of ours may we both dwell, 

Nor ever rest together, side by side; 

Nor ever to the world say in our pride, 

" This is my chosen, whom I love so well ; " 

Nor ever may we to each other tell 

All the long day brought forth, but we must hide 

All sweetest things, and ever silent bide 

Unto the end — and then — no fond farewell. 

This is our meed ; this treasure have we won 
From cruel Chance and ever fitful Fate : 
To live our lonely lives all desolate. 
While each alone life's weary race must run. 
Is this thy meed, O tender, loving heart. 
To dwell forever from thy love apart? 



89 



RENUNCIATION 

I cannot live without thee; all my days 
Lie desolate before me. Suns will glow 
Unpitying, and the nights will darker grow, 
And colder, while the hand of death delays. 
This is the sordid parting of our ways, 
Wherein each turns from pleasure, and the slow, 
Sad step takes each from the other. Thou wilt go 
Back to thy home bewildered — in a maze 

Woven of love and duty; fond desire 
Striving with honor, chilling thee with cold, 
And burning all thy soul with raging fire — 
Thus will it be till we be bent and old. 
Yet will we conquer — Love that scorneth wrong 
Has sung in our sad hearts its perfect song. 



90 



THE PYRE OF HOPE 

And I must burn her letter. Here it lies, 
Just from her hand ; her very cry is there ; 
Her heart's outbreak of sorrow and despair 
When hope in all its beauty falls and dies. 
Yet must I make this dreaded sacrifice, 
Lest to some eye her quivering heart lie bare ; 
So, let it go to the bright flame's red glare, 
That burns to dust the words it glorifies. 

my lost Love, 't was all I had of thine. 
But thy dear memory, that can never die. 

1 know by heart each sad and tear-stained line, 
And with the ashes of my hope they lie. 
Time may consume more silently than flame, 
But in my heart will live thy dear loved name. 



91 



THE LAST MESSENGER 

Fly far, my dove, nor ever back return. 

I watch thee as I lose thee in the night, 

Where vanish all the things that made life bright, 

Like fleeting stars that still in envy burn. 

Oft shall I wait, and oft my heart shall yearn, 

Missing thy long-expected, joyous flight, 

When at the eve thou didst so softly light, 

And up to me thine eyes expectant turn. 

Fly far, my dove — I bless thee for the hour 
That thou hast given me — my respite sweet. 
I bless thee for the rare and scented flower 
That fell at even to my weary feet. 
But thou, O God, who holdst me in thy power, 
Hast led me by the hand to love's defeat. 



92 



LOVE OR HATE 

And art thou Love, O God, or art thou Fate? 
Dost thou not care when loving creatures fail. 
And faces fair grow wan, and cheeks grow pale, 
Or art thou never Love, but alway Hate? 
Does all our anguish and our sorrow sate 
Thy jealousy, and is the lingering wail 
Of those who perish in life's pitiless gale 
As wine unto thy heart all desolate ? 

Have mercy, for our years be few and late; 
Have pity, for death cometh on apace; 
Our little loves are far beneath thy great, 
Calm eye, that watches o'er eternal space. 
Heart cries to heart, and ever mate for mate, — 
Hast thou for human love no resting-place? 



93 



DESPAIR 

What art thou, Black Despair, with staring eyes? 
Who formed thee, — what dread mother gave thee 

birth ? 
Lost love, and vanished hope, and awful mirth; 
And with them ruined Honor prostrate lies. 
And terror, that has strangled quick surprise, 
And all the evils of the evil earth. 
Which clasps a myriad demons in its girth, 
Who lie in wait for luckless man — their prize. 

But most of all, Love, that was just within 
The strain of arms that longed to clasp it there — 
What time, across the cheek, swept wind-blown 

hair — 
Bright with God's smile, but shadowed by man's 

sin: 
Love that is half self-sacrifice and care. 
And half the lust that would its beauty win. 



94 



JOY AND WOE 

The sun is set — my sun — that shone a day, 
Lighting for me a world of joy and woe. 
They came together from the night, and lo, 
Joy fades forever from my sight away ; 
But in the darkness of the evening gray 
Woe Cometh to my door, and now I know, 
Till age with tottering feet doth slower go. 
Anguish and Woe his brother close will stay. 

But where art thou, O Jov — Love's child of 

light ? 
Hath envious Night enfolded thee so close, 
Loving thee as I love thee — takes he all ? 
Glide softly down from out the arms of Night 
When he is lulled by thee in deep repose, 
And at the window of my sad heart call. 



95 



REMEMBRANCE 

Can I forget? Thy face is everywhere. 
It meets me in the shadow and the light, 
It fills my desolate dwelling in the night, 
And in the lingering day still thou art there. 
I pass thee, pale and mute, upon my stair ; 
Wan are thy cheeks ; ever thine eyes are bright 
With unshed tears — yet would I keep the sight, — 
The precious chrism of this my great despair. 

Thou wert so dear to me — thy love so rare ! 
Why must I lose thee? Yet I see the years 
Stretching before me, desolate and bare, 
When age shall dry the fountain of my tears 
And wearily I '11 bend beneath my care, 
Yet still my heart will cry, " She was so fair ! " 



96 



HIDDEN TREASURE 

Call no man lonely, tho' he dwell alone, 
Within whose heart one perfect love lies hid, — 
Rare treasure, 'neath some strong-bound casket's 

Hd, 
That he has found and only he has known. 
What tho' his face has ever sadder grown, 
Locking his secret there, his heart amid — 
Like buried queen in some lone pyramid, 
Whom time has quite forgotten, and has flown 

Far into other lands, while sun and moon 
Have kept their watches, and the yellow sands 
Have drifted deeper, guarding, night and noon, 
Their precious secret, lest from alien lands 
A thousand seekers, eager for the boon, 
Should bare her royal grave with impious hands. 



97 



THE LOST LETTER 

This letter, stained with teardrops from thine eye, 
Still brings thee back a moment — some faint 

scent. 
Like love's dead glance, time's lingering languish- 

ment 
Has all these loitering years dared to defy. 
The writing — faded, yellow — can outvie 
In its mute power the skill of them who paint 
Earth's fairest scenes. Here 's one, — Love's last 

lament, — 
A picture, priceless, that gold cannot buy, 

Left when I burned the rest. Was it accident, 
Or did it seek some hidden nook near-by. 
And now burst forth with memories redolent, 
And all my proud forgetfulness belie? 
It Cometh, as my lost love's testament, 
My worn and weary heart to sanctify. 



98 



THE FAITH OF LOVE 

Why zvill ye limit love, ye " Churchmen " ivisc, 
" 'Til death doth part? " Why not beyond the 

grave 
Let Love live on, in love's own land, and have 
Its perfect life? Say ye " The dead arise "f 
And dare ye still to think the soul that lies, 
Wrapt in a love for one more dear than all 
The world beside, will zvake and vainly call 
Her name till every hope and plea-sure dies? 

Love's faith is stronger. Thro' the veil that hides, 
Where eyes zuould pierce beyond the azvful gloom. 
Love sees and knozvs, zvhatever else betides. 
Its birth and bloom in life beyond the tomb. 
Where heart to heart will cling, and love zvill reign 
Fearless and free forever from its pain. 



99 



For all the love ye knozv of is hut dross, 
Ye Churchmen arrogant, a sordid thing, 
Which, did ye rise, ye zvould all gladly fling 
Far azvay from you, counting it no loss; 
But of the Perfect Love, whose silken floss 
Your hands zvould stain, if unto it ye cling, — 
The love that dares; that scorns your tinsel ring, 
And reaches the dark giilf of death across, — 

It zvill live on, in heaven or hell, I zvot, 

Binding the soul in torment as in bliss; 

In suffering and in sorrozv caring not, 

So it forever zvith the loved one is. 

Go change your minds, repent, and haste to blot 

The page that sums love up in passion's kiss. 



lOO 



FINIS 

Close the old chest, and turn its rusted key; 

Let darkness fall upon the half-told tale. 

The prying eye no longer may avail, 

For time has zvrapped the end in mystery. 

Did Fate relent and set its victims free? 

Was Love too strong? zvere Honor's bonds too 

frail? 
All this the distant years in silence veil — 
The riddle's end may not unravelled be. 

Yet sometimes Love, in anger, deigns to ask, 
Who set ye, O ye Churchmen, to God's task? 
Would He join those whose love to hate doth turn, 
And tear asunder hearts zvith love that burn? 
Knozv ye the souls zvhom God and Love zvould 

mate? 
"Behold your houses left all desolate." 



By Gaza's Gate — A Cantata 



By Gaza's Gate — A Cantata 

Words based on the text of the Polychrome Bible 

Recitative. 

Far to the south, in desert waste, 
Lies Gaza, glittering in the sun. 
The hot winds blow ; the road runs low 
That comes from sea-swept Ashkelon ; 
And, on the wall that rings the town, 
Grim turrets on the stranger frown. 
The gate is high, the gate is wide. 
And thro' it, in a living tide, 
The caravans and horsemen ride ; 
But when the night falls, still and sweet, 
It stays the tread of many feet. 

Within the gate, in bower of love, 
Lay Samson, " Judah's mighty man." 
Daring the foe, for love's fond glow, 
Too eagerly his footsteps ran. 
But now, in shadow of the night. 
Bright spears and armor glint the light. 
His f oemen wait till morn be come ; 
Then all too late ! Then all too late ! 
Samson must fall and meet his fate 
At Gaza's strong and lofty gate. 
105 



Chorus of Gazeans. 

All night we wait 
Beside the gate, 
For Samson sleeps 
Within our walls ; 
When morning breaks, 
From dreams he wakes, 
With none to rescue 
When he calls. 

Our gate is wide. 

Our gate is high. 

Strong is each post. 

Broad is its bar; 

Woe him betide 

When he comes nigh ! 

His life is lost, — 

Samson must die! 

Judah's " great man of war." 



Samson. 



Up Hebron's hill I mount, 
And dare ye follow me? 
Your mighty gate I count 
A little thing to be. 
I rent your gateposts wide; 
I burst your oaken bar; 
Woe, woe, shall all betide 
Who foes of Samson are ! 

Up Hebron's hill I climb; 
Where were ye when I sped 
1 06 



At midnight's silent time? 

For lo! ye all had fled; 

And with one mighty strain 

I lifted high your gate, 

And here, on Hebron's hill 

Your slow approach I wait. 

Ye will not come, 

Ye dare not come, 

Till I am gone; 

Else would ye meet the doom 

That fell on some 

That dwelt in Ashkelon. 



Recitative. 



Down in the vale where fair Delilah dwells 

Philistia's princes come to ask her aid : 

" When once the secret of his might he tells, 

Then bind him fast, and be not thou afraid; 

For round thy home our armed men shall wait. 

Our host shall lead him captive who has slain 

Philistia's bravest, and within the gate ; 

In Gaza's dungeons shall he long remain. 

And unto thee we bring these gifts of gold, 

And gifts of silver and of rubies red; 

More shall be thine, — more than thine arms can 

hold,— 
The welcome price for him whom all men dread." 

Delilah — Solo. 

What ye ask ye cannot know ; 
Take ye back the gifts ye bear; 
107 



Nor for all the sullen glow 
Of your jewels do I care. 

If my love I must betray, 
'T is because my heart is true 
To Philistia. Woe the day 
When I barkened unto you ! 

For wherever Samson's name 
And his mighty deeds are told 
Men shall know me and my shame, 
Take ye back your gifts of gold. 

But Philistia asks my aid. 
Shall she cry in vain to me? 
Samson die ! by love betrayed ! 
For I love her more than thee. 



Delilah. 



Samson, I kneel, I entreat. 
Whence is the power of thine arm ? 
How dost thou ever defeat 
My people? Oh, tell me thy charm. 



Chorus. 



Samson, beware! 
Thy flowing hair 
Was vowed to God 
Since childhood's hour. 
Reveal it not 
To foes who plot 
To rob thee of thy power. 
1 08 



Samson. 

Love, 't is little you ask ; 

Bind me with cords that are seven : 

New-made, fit for the bow, 

That never have sung in war 

The fierce, wild song of the fight, — 

The soft, strange hiss, like the snow 

Sweeping o'er Lebanon's height 

When the winds of winter blow. 

[She binds him with cords and sings. 

Delilah. 

Sleep, Samson, sleep ! 

Love watch o'er thee is keeping; 

None may molest 

When love guards love that 's sleeping. 

[He sleeps. 
Samson, awake ! Philistia's armies come. 
Wake, Samson, wake: to meet thy doom! 



Recitative. 



But as a strand of fiax 
Snaps at the breath of fire, 
So Samson burst his bonds 
And mocked his foes' desire. 



Delilah. 



False hast thou been. 
And thou hast lied to me 
Come, tell me truly 
What I ask of thee. 
109 



Samson. 

Now will I tell thee true, 
My locks are seven ; 
Weave, weave them tight 
In thy loom to-night, — 
My answer now is given. 

Delilah. 

Sleep, Samson, sleep! 

Love watch o'er thee is keeping; 

None may molest 

When love guards love that 's sleeping. 

[He sleeps. 
Samson, awake! Philistia's armies come. 
Wake, Samson, wake : to meet thy doom ! 

Chorus. 

Woof and web and shining strands, 
Woven close and beaten tight; 
Deadly wiles of snowy hands. 
Binding all thy wondrous might; 
Woof and web and busy loom. 
Woven mesh of waving hair, 
Thou hast torn, yet still thy doom 
Creepeth closer in the air. 

Delilah. 

Ah, love, how canst thou say " My heart is 

thine," 
When in thy heart a secret lurks unseen? 
Like poison in the cool and amber wine. 
Thou lovest not, or this had never been, 
no 



Samson. 

" Love ! " " Love ! " How lightly thou canst cry 
That little word! And yet I know 
That if I tell thee I must die, 
And into death without thee go. 

And I am weary — weary long — 
Of all thy pleading, yet my heart 
Is moved to tears by thy sweet song. 
Deceiver, dear but false thou art; 

But I am vanquished ! Love has won ! 
Without my locks my strength is gone. 

Delilah. 

Sleep, Samson, sleep ! 

Now hast thou told me all. 

Now is thy secret gone 

Beyond recalling; 

Upon my lap 

Forget thy vanished might, 

Thy waving locks 

In wondrous beauty falling. 

Wake, Samson, wake! 

No more — no more I call. 

Wake, and into the hands of foemen fall ! 

Chorus. 

Nevermore thro' Timanth's shade 
Samson comes when noon is high. 
None shall watch, nor man, nor maid, 
For his beauty passing by. 



Thro' the vineyards, at the eve, 
Nevermore shall Samson stray; 
Nor his blinded eyes perceive 
All the loveliness of day. 

But a festival they hold, 

Unto Dagon, — at his shrine, — 

And their hearts are strong and bold, 

And they flush with pride and wine: 

" Lead out Samson. Let us see 

Him in all his misery. 

Blind and weary, bound in chains, 

Let us see if strength remains." 

Recitative. 

Under the vaulted roof stood Samson, quite aloof 
From all the mocking, merrymaking throng. 
Tired with the sport he made, he to his warders 

said: 
" Lead me aside ; I would abide 
A little space, to rest my weariness, 
Where yonder pillars rise toward the skies. 
Now be ye kind, for I am blind, 
And pity my distress." 
Then, when his fingers press. 
He grasps the pillars close ; 
He bows him as to rest, and silent rose 
Up to Jehovah's throne his dying prayer, 

Samson — Solo. 

Remember me, this once ! Remember me, 
O God of Manoah, my father; God, 

112 



Who in the flame 

Upon his altar rose 

Up to thy heaven, 

Revealing not thy name, 

Thine aid I claim. 

Remember me, this once ! Remember me ; 

Remember all my wrong. 

Forget my sin. 

Give me my strength once more, 

The strength I had before, 

When there were none so strong; 

And let me win 

In the last fight. 

Ere cometh death and night. 

The victory for which alone I long. 

Remember me; 

This once remember me ! 

Chorus. 

Samson in death shall win. 

Mourn not for him, 

Nor eyes be dim 

With tears that would ever flow, — 

Samson in death shall win. 



Chorus. 



Then did he bow; 
Then bent he to the strain, 
Till the great pillars 
Groaned and creaked again; 
And all the house aloft, 
Upon the players 

113 



Playing music soft, 

And singers singing 

Low and sweet, 

And men and maidens 

Bowing at the feet 

Of Dagon, on his golden throne, 

Came crashing down. 

Chorus. 

Samson in death has won. 

Mourn not for him. 

Nor eyes be dim 

With tears that would endlessly flow. 

Thousands with him lie low, — 

Samson in death has won. 



114 







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